What Causes Gospel Aversion?
(Read the first post in this series by Clicking Here)
In my last post, we talked about how Christians are designed to regularly hear and conform our hearts to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Specifically, we talked about the dangers of Christians believing they don’t need to hear the Gospel.
The verdict? Whether you’re a new believer or you can’t remember a time before you knew the Lord, each of us needs to hear the Gospel message on a regular basis.
But what causes any of us, believer or unbeliever, to say or think that we, “don’t need to hear the Gospel”?
What Gives Gospel Aversion
It should be obvious to any professing Christian that the answer is plainly sin. Sin is what puffs us up, falsely reassures us of our own goodness, negotiates with our conscious to soothe us into a habit of thinking we’re okay to take the weekend away from any reminder of God, accountability to Christian community, or worse, responsibility for our sin.
Sadly, I don’t think it is very obvious to the average professing Christian, particularly those who have only heard the “Good News” of salvation and eternity with God, without ever really hearing the “Bad News” of why we need a redeemer in the first place.
Heaven and eternal life sound appealing enough, but the Gospel message is only true if we share the whole message. The Good News ceases to be good if we don’t need any redemption from sin, faith in a perfect savior, and right standing before God.
It might seem more comfortable to resign ourselves to never hear about our sin, fallen state and how we are separated from our Holy God. But while admitting we are sinful and unable to reconcile ourselves to our Creator might sound uncomfortable, it’s really not.
It’s the truth. And we should treasure it.
Admitting the truth is empowering and fills the believer with faith in God’s holiness, righteousness, and providence over our lives.
Suddenly, the sin that once separated us from the Lord no longer stands between us and Him.
In Romans 5:10-11, Paul writes, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
If we never humble ourselves to look at or admit our sin, we cannot stand righteous before God because we can’t see why we need a Savior in the first place. But once the truth of the Gospel leads us out of our sinful state, sin no longer holds any power over us.
“… but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.” Romans 6:13-14
Free from sin! We should jump at the chance to hear this news, every time! Hearing the Gospel again is a reminder of either one’s glorious salvation, or one’s tragic rejection. I’d probably repel at hearing it again too, if I were in the latter group. But as a believer I not only want to hear it but I now want to share it, and I think that is a work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
Photo by Isaiah Rustad
